Mobile Advertising trends to keep an eye on this 2018.

As the years roll by, more and more marketers are eventually cottoning on to the wonders of mobile advertising and that extra edge it can give to their marketing campaigns. This increase in mobile advertising is, beyond question, in correlation with smartphone use, where we constantly rely on mobiles or tablets to work, shop, browse or simply chat and interact with friends.

So with this in mind, here are some interesting trends to be aware of as mobile advertising evolves this year.

Looking at the whole multi-channel journey

In 2018, brands can no longer focus on just one channel. They have to think how the customer experience is constructed and what has led a customer to taking a certain decision. Was it something they saw on Mobile? Desktop? Social Media?

Regardless of how wonderful your app or site may be, it is just one other touchpoint in the digital world, that will integrate with various other channels. Mobile is one thing your customer will have on them wherever they may be and as such, it is your most important weapon – yes, you must nail your mobile strategy, but you must also ensure that the experience unites all channels together.

Retail consumers are the prime example of the omni-channel experience. For many, they may receive say an e-mail or SMS on their phone. Perhaps they see an ad in-app or on the web advertising a product. They click on the ad or link and are directed to the store. There, they begin their journey, browsing the products on offer, on their mobile. Some do complete the purchase process there but others often find themselves completing the transaction on desktop later on or even going in-store to finalise the process. Their activity on mobile provides us with insights to tailor relevant advertising and products to suit what they like.

An even more customised and personalised approach.

In line with the point above, people don’t want to be sent the same, generic, spam-like message that everyone receives. Nor do they wish to see the same generic ad that everyone else will see – this provokes the banner blindness effect, meaning your advertising attempts are null and void. Users want to feel wanted and need something that speaks to them personally. As we gain even more access to customer information, we are able to do this and actually send them relevant information that they will be more than willing to hear.

Heavier reliance on Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence is not about to go anywhere. And is something which will improve the user experience even more as we learn from mobile behaviour and the vast quantities of data available. Artificial Intelligence will not only help this customised and personalised approach to advertising but so too, will it go hand in hand with cognitive marketing.

The rise of cognitive marketing

Mobile advertising started off with the basis of delivering the right message to the right person at the right time. However, we have come on leaps and bounds since then, thanks to advances in technology, seeing an improvement in targeting options, allowing us to impact users on a yet again, more personal level. Since mobiles are so personal to the user, they provide us with an insight into what they require, what they use the device for – be it to chat, purchase, browse, etc. So what it is about now is using this information to deliver the appropriate ads to cater to their needs.

The key now is for mobile marketing to be truly in the right context, appropriate channel, and be genuinely useful and relevant to our customers.

Each user is unique. Therefore, understanding the channels and using tools like clustering, studying metrics like retention, and having a clear picture of the journey are crucial to successful marketing – put that all together and you have a mobile holistic approach that will ultimately lead not only to user buy-in, but also to see mobile customers’ use and expenditure grow. What is clear, is that these emerging patterns all complement and are intertwined with one another, making them crucial and important to implement when it comes to tailoring a marketing campaign.